Politics Fifth Generation Warfare; Narrative Wars And Kashmir Quandary

Globalization has made a large contribution on reshaping the dynamics of conflicts in our times, not just its nature but also how to overcome these conflicts have also improvised drastically. Resolutions of conflicts have been sought out by different means in different times .The way that dominated as a part of conflict resolution was termed wars with its counterpart being a peaceful resolutions. the most primitive ways to solve a conflict over interests were hand to hand combats being called as battles which for a very long time stayed the major part of the warfare with unique technological improvising. Analysts to discuss the evolution of warfare classified them into generations the first three generations were dominated by the battle part of the warfare which transitioned from hand to hand, phalanx system and organized line and column clashes to breech-loaders and gunpowder and then to late modern technology-derived tactics of leveraging speed, stealth and surprise to bypass the enemy’s lines and collapse their forces from the rear. The cold war marked the beginning of new generation of warfare, it encompassed the tactics of warfare with diplomatic means, blurring of the lines between war and politics, combatants and civilians. It immediately becomes the most appropriate choice due to introduction of nuclear weapons and balance of power. Today the analyst have agreed that this is the era of fifth generation warfare, which is the most complex of all warfare as there is so much ambiguity pertaining to how to express it due to its vast domain. It has been explained by US analyst who has coined the term as a type of warfare where non-state actors are created and empowered to go up against the state without any clear political agenda, this can be achieved by creating frustration among the masses or creating a conflict in ideologies and identities. The central domain of this type of warfare is narrative wars, it is an ideological war, which existed for quit sometime, but was never as affective as it has become today by the means of modern technologies. It has become the most decisive tool of all time to amass huge volumes of people with conflicting notions and has contributed to drastically impact on integrity of the state. Narrative wars are being used to reshape the cultural and social dimensions of the society by distorting ideological hormany, it also impacting on the psychological aspects of the society. First by the use of propagating platforms, mainly social media, such issues are highlighted then if they do not directly change a group’s ideology, They would push them into realm of confusions which are then by the aid of social, political and psychological uncertainties shaped into conflicting narratives, sectarianism the divide among the nation the terrorist groups are all what nations have been suffering from when they are under the narrative war agendas. Once the ideological harmony is lost the integrity of state is devastatingly being affected and it becomes vulnerable to political instability and possible uproars coherent with the motives of their enemies. These ideological shifts sweep in due to many other factors; weak state craft, economic crisis and rise to ethnocentrism are prominent components. The countries with ideological foundations with cultural diversity take the strongest blow. These ideological confusions can be introduced as civil-military disagreements, notions of threat to democracy and debates over incompetency of government Today the dynamism of such wars is catalyzed by today’s media. The dominant states cross the line of cyber bullying and employ talking heads that push their narratives against their counterparts; developing and third world countries. Multiple tactics are used to undermine the narrative of the conflicting regions and falsely reconstructed narratives are hyped for mass influence. Notions that can swiftly transform into heated debates are proposed on social media platform not just to design the next strategy but also to find loopholes in psycho-socio structure of the nations. Partially permeable structure of cyberspace allows the dominant tech-world to control the flow of information. Sometimes excessive information is rapidly flown into the space and sometimes it is held to create disarray in thought process and formulating confusions. It has been made possible today, like never before, by the advancements in media to take the masses on a roller coaster of emotions, completely overwhelming their rational and intuitive insight to apprehend the information, hence contributing to the propaganda wars and programmed zombie revolutions. Implications for Pakistan Pakistan is becoming increasingly vulnerable to such ideological and narrative wars; one of the biggest reasons is its ideological foundations, other reasons include its being the only Islamic nuclear power, its key geographic location, its extremely sensitive Kashmir issue and the rise of identity politics in a state which is in conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir issue. Kashmir forms integral part of Pakistan and has ideological ties with it. No efforts are being wasted to cut through this ideological connection and undermine the narrative of Kashmiris and Pakistan by the conflicting state. And yet again the dominant role is being played by media. International narrative and social confusions are constantly being thrown at Pakistan who is a key south Asian country. Despite the efforts it has become the need of the hour for the media not just to be the Vanguard of the ideology and narrative of Pakistan but also to revive the ideological connections it has with Kashmir. It has not only become of immense importance that the narrative of Kashmir’s to be brought to the limelight and the ground realties to be brought to surface but also to highlight with factual information the destitution Kashmir’s have been brought down to. 5GW is all about ideas, how these ideas are going to be presented is going to be the way forward. IT will be of utmost importance to keep the nation on same ideological page. Keeping the nation on same ideological page with emotional tools and timely events only, will not have same and lasting effect as it would with fact based academic efforts and awareness of geographical, economical connections Pakistan has with Kashmir and its people. Revival of ideological bases of Pakistan would be the key factor to promote the strengthening of social fabric and save the nation from ethnocentrism which is strengthening roots in our society. It would be required to relate how ideological coherence among the nation can stabilize the social, political and economical situation which reduces their vulnerability to Narrative wars and their adverse effects.

Politics Fifth Generation Warfare; Narrative Wars And Kashmir Quandary

Politics Fifth Generation Warfare; Narrative Wars And Kashmir Quandary

aghaibrahim